Plot Overview

Episode IV: A New Hope

Far off in a distant galaxy, the starship belonging to
Princess Leia, a young member of the Imperial Senate, is intercepted
in the course of a secret mission by a massive Imperial Star Destroyer.
An imperial boarding party blasts its way onto the captured vessel,
and after a fierce firefight the crew of Leia’s ship is subdued.
The dark, forbidding figure of Darth Vader appears, brutally interrogating
the crew and ordering his stormtroopers to search the ship for the
secret documents he believes it is carrying: the technical readouts
for the Empire’s mightiest weapon—a planet-sized battle station
called the Death Star. In the confusion, Princess Leia slips away
and hides the secret documents, as well as a recorded plea for help,
in the memory of R2-D2, a maintenance droid (robot). Leia is taken
prisoner, but R2 gets away in an escape pod, along with his best
friend, the protocol droid C-3PO. After crash-landing on the planet
below, a barren, desert world called Tatooine, the droids set off
in search of civilization but soon quarrel over the way to go. R2
insists that he has a mission to perform, but C-3PO wants no part
of such an adventure.

The two droids go their separate ways but are soon reunited when
they are both captured by Jawas, child-sized scavengers who trade
in droids and technological scraps. The Jawas sell the droids to Owen
Lars, a moisture farmer on a remote homestead. Owen’s nephew, young
Luke Skywalker, cleans the droids and, as he does so, stumbles across
a bit of the message Princess Leia had hidden inside R2. The holographic
message is addressed to “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and Luke, fascinated by
the beautiful princess, wonders if she means Ben Kenobi, a mysterious
hermit who lives out in the desert wilds. R2, however, refuses to
divulge any more of the message. When Luke asks his uncle about
the identity of Obi-Wan, Owen is reluctant to even discuss the subject,
but he does drop one tantalizing hint: Obi-Wan was a friend of Luke’s
father, whom Luke never knew. Luke mentions his desire to leave
home to attend the Imperial Academy for starpilots, but Uncle Owen
is discouraging, much to Luke’s frustration. When Luke’s aunt Beru
reminds Owen that Luke is too much like his father to stay on the
farm, Owen replies that that is just what he’s afraid of.

During the night, R2-D2 slips away, intent on finding
Obi-Wan and completing his mission. Luke sets out in search of the
truant droid the next morning, taking C-3PO with him. They soon
find R2 but are waylaid by Sandpeople, barbaric tribal creatures
who attack anyone trespassing on their domain. Luke is knocked unconscious but
is saved by the timely appearance of old Ben Kenobi, who frightens
off the Sandpeople and brings the group back to his humble shelter.
There, Ben explains that he was called Obi-Wan back in days when
he was a Jedi Knight, one of an ancient order of warriors who fought
for peace and justice in the time of the Old Republic, before the
coming of the evil Galactic Empire. Further, he informs Luke that
Luke’s father was also a Jedi, one of Ben’s closest friends, and that
his father was killed by Darth Vader, a former pupil of Ben’s who
turned to the dark side of the Force. The Force, Ben explains, is the
source of a Jedi’s power. It is an energy field created and sustained
by life itself, and it flows through the universe, binding it together.
Through training, a Jedi is able to tap into the Force and gain
great power and wisdom, but, as the example of Vader shows, there
is a seductive, evil path to the Force as well.

Ben gives Luke his father’s lightsaber, the traditional
weapon of a Jedi. After viewing the entirety of Leia’s message,
Ben says that he intends to join up with the Rebel Alliance challenging
the Empire and to bring them the plans hidden in R2’s memory. He
urges Luke to join him and to learn the ways of the Force, but Luke,
echoing his uncle, is reluctant to get involved. Meanwhile, Princess
Leia has been taken into captivity on the Death Star. There, Leia
is repeatedly interrogated by Darth Vader about the whereabouts
of the hidden Rebel base, but she stoutly refuses to crack. When
Vader is insolently challenged by the Death Star’s Commander, he
demonstrates his mastery of the Force by choking the officer into
submission merely by raising his finger, until he is restrained
by Grand Moff Tarkin, the Imperial governor. Back on Tattooine,
Luke and Ben discover that the Jawas have been slaughtered by Imperial
troops tracing the droids. Fearing for his aunt and uncle, Luke
races home only to find them murdered and the farm in flames. With
nothing left to hold him on Tattooine, Luke resolves to join Ben
and to become a Jedi.

With the droids in tow, Ben and Luke journey to Mos Eisley spaceport
in search of a ship to take them to Alderaan, the Princess’s home
planet. The Mos Eisley cantina, where the best pilots are to be found,
is a rough place, and Ben is forced to act with deadly swiftness
to defend Luke from a couple of toughs. Nevertheless, the pair manages
to hire Han Solo, a brash smuggler, and his copilot, the Wookie
Chewbacca, to take them to Alderaan without attracting the attention
of the Empire. After the deal is struck, Han Solo is cornered by
Greedo, a lackey of Jabba the Hutt and a gangster angry at Solo
for dumping one of his shipments. Solo blasts his way out of the confrontation
but is forced to talk his way past Jabba himself when he returns
to the hangar where his ship, the ugly-but-fast Millennium
Falcon, is docked. Solo and Chewbacca are surprised when Imperial
troops appear and start firing on the ship in an attempt to reclaim
the droids, and the Falcon barely makes it off
Tatooine and into hyperspace on the way to Alderaan.

On the Death Star, meanwhile, Tarkin has decided to break
Leia by threatening her home planet, Alderaan, with destruction.
Faced with this appalling dilemma, Leia reveals the location of
the hidden base, only to have Tarkin proceed with the attack on
Alderaan, merely to demonstrate the power of the Death Star. Aboard
the Millennium Falcon, Ben is stricken, feeling
the death of Alderaan as a massive tremor in the Force. Luke trains
with his lightsaber, even as Han scoffs at Ben’s trust in the Force.
Ben replies by having Luke fight blind against a floating target,
and Luke is able to defend himself by sensing the remote with his
feelings alone, thereby taking his first steps, as Ben says, into
“a larger world.” The ship exits hyperspace where Alderaan should
be, only to find the planet missing and an asteroid field in its
place. Ben realizes the horrible truth when they catch sight of
the nearby Death Star, and the Millennium Falcon is
quickly captured. The group manages to hide from the guards in Han’s
smuggling compartments, but Vader senses the presence of his old
master, Obi-Wan.

The ship is unable to escape the Death Star as long as
the station’s tractor beam is operational, so Ben goes off alone
to deactivate it. In his absence, the others learn that Princess
Leia is aboard the station, and Luke convinces them to attempt a
rescue. Han and Luke disguise themselves as stormtroopers and, with
the droids plugged into the station’s computers, break Leia out
of her cell. Unfortunately, their activities are soon discovered,
and the rescue takes a detour through a massive, monster-infested
garbage compactor and several corridors and pitfalls swarming with
Imperial troops. Leia is unimpressed with her rescuers’ planning
and soon begins to issue the orders, much to Han’s chagrin. As the
group fights its way back to the Falcon, Ben stealthily
deactivates the tractor beam. On his way to the ship, Ben is confronted
by Darth Vader, who is eager to face his old master. Vader and Ben
duel with lightsabers, and the fight draws the attention of the
guards. Realizing he is trapped, and not wanting to endanger his
friends, Ben allows Vader to strike him down, only to disappear
before Vader’s stroke hits, merging his consciousness with the Force.
Luke is horrified and lashes out, but the others force him onto
the Falcon and make they their escape.

The fleeing ship is pursued by Imperial fighters but finally escapes,
though Leia is convinced that they are being tracked, as indeed
they are. The group travels to the Rebel base, with the Death Star
right behind. A quick scan of the blueprints provided by R2 offers
one slim chance: the Death Star has an Achilles’ heel. A direct hit
on a small, easily overlooked thermal port will destroy the station,
if only a fighter can get close enough to target it. Luke signs
up for the desperate assault, but he is disappointed that Han, having received
his payment, plans to leave immediately. Watched anxiously by the
Rebel command, the fleet of small, single-pilot fighters speeds
toward the massive, impregnable Death Star. As the station slowly
moves into position to obliterate the Rebels, the pilots maneuver
down a narrow trench along the station’s equator, where the thermal
port lies hidden. Darth Vader leads the counterattack himself and
destroys many of the Rebels, including Luke’s boyhood friend Biggs,
in ship-to-ship combat. Finally, it is up to Luke himself to make
a run at the target, and he is saved from Vader at the last minute
by Han Solo, who returns in the nick of time and sends Vader spinning
away from the station. Heeding Ben’s disembodied voice, Luke switches
off his computer and uses the Force to guide his aim. Against all
odds, Luke succeeds and destroys the Death Star, dealing a major
defeat to the Empire and setting himself on the path to becoming
a Jedi Knight.

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

After the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire quickly
regroups and begins searching for the new location of the Rebel
base. Imperial probe droids fan out across various star systems,
and one lands on the surface of the icy planet Hoth. On the surface
of Hoth, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are on patrol near the newly
hidden Rebel base. Luke sees the Imperial probe strike the surface
and goes to investigate on his own. Before he can identify the probe,
Luke is attacked and knocked unconscious by a hulking yeti-like
creature. Meanwhile, having returned to the base, Han orders Chewbacca
to prepare the ailing Millennium Falcon for departure.
Han explains to the Rebel general that he feels compelled to leave
because of the bounty hunters sent after him by Jabba the Hutt.
As Han heads back to his ship, Leia confronts him and tries to convince
him to stay for the sake of the Rebellion. Han tries to get Leia
to admit that she has more personal reasons for wanting him to stay,
but she refuses and the two quarrel.

When Han learns that Luke has still not reported in, he
heads out into the deadly Hoth night to find him. In the cave of
the creature that attacked him, Luke has been pinioned in ice but
is able to use the Force and his lightsaber to fight his way back
to the surface. As he wanders blindly in a snowstorm, Luke has a
vision of Ben Kenobi, who tells Luke that he must seek out Yoda,
the Jedi master who is to train him in the ways of the Force. As
Luke collapses, Han appears out of the night to rescue him. Luke
recovers after a short stay in the sick bay, and Han and Leia discover
that the Imperial probe has located the Rebel base. Aboard his command
ship, Darth Vader sees the transmission from the probe and, instantly
recognizing the Rebel base, orders his fleet to the Hoth system.
However, Admiral Ozzel brings the fleet out of hyperspace in such
a way that the Rebels are alerted and have time to prepare an evacuation.
Furious, Vader uses the Force to strangle Ozzel and promotes Piett
in his place.

Luke leads the counterattack that attempts to hold off
the approaching Imperial army of massive armored walking transports, as
the Rebels hurriedly flee the base. Leia and C-3PO are forced to go
with Han in the Falcon, while Luke and R2 head
toward the Dagobah system, where Yoda is to be found. Unfortunately,
the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon is broken,
and Han and Leia are closely pursued by the Imperial fleet. In a
desperate maneuver, Han flies into an asteroid field in order to
escape the pursuit and barely avoids being crushed or shot down,
ultimately finding shelter in a cave on one of the larger asteroids.
Luke crash-lands on Dagobah, a swampy planet teeming with animal
life but without any settlements or other signs of civilization.
Luke and R2 make camp and are interrupted by the intrusion of an
annoying, elderly little creature that pokes around, stealing food
and offering to take Luke to Yoda. Luke reluctantly accompanies
the creature to his home for a meal but quickly becomes impatient
and angry at the delay. At this, the creature, who is of course
Yoda himself, sighs and says that he cannot train someone so reckless
and angry. To his surprise, Luke hears Ben’s voice defending him
and urging Yoda to take Luke on as a student. Luke begs Yoda for
another chance, and Yoda agrees, warning Luke that what is to come
will be the greatest challenge he has ever faced.

Just as he is hiring a group of bounty hunters to find
Han and the others, Darth Vader receives a call from the Emperor,
who has sensed that Luke has begun his Jedi training. Vader is given
the mission of luring Luke to him so that Luke can either be claimed
for the dark side of the Force or destroyed. As the Imperial fleet
searches the asteroid field, Han and the others work to get the Falcon repaired. Han
and Leia have a tender moment together, and Leia admits that she
is drawn to Han when he isn’t acting like a scoundrel, a term with
which Han is inordinately pleased. The brief moment of peace is
cut short, however, when Han realizes that the “cave” they have taken
shelter in is actually the gullet of an enormous, worm-like monster.
Han speeds out of the maw of the creature, back into the asteroid
field, and back into the sights of the Imperial fleet. Still unable
to jump to hyperspace, Han improvises, hiding the Falcon by latching
directly onto one of the Star Destroyers. The captain of the Star
Destroyer assumes that the ship has escaped, apologizes to Vader,
and pays for his error with his life. Meanwhile, Han detaches the Falcon when
the larger vessel dumps its garbage and floats away, unseen, with
the debris.

Han decides to travel to the nearby planet of Bespin,
where Lando Calrissian, an old friend, runs an independent mining
station. However, Han himself fails to notice that his stealthy
maneuver has been anticipated by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, who follows
close behind. On Dagobah, Luke’s training pushes him to the brink
of physical and mental exhaustion. As Luke and Yoda rest before
a sinister cave, Yoda tells Luke that the place is connected to the
dark side and that Luke must go within and see what he finds. Luke
enters the cave only to see a vision of Darth Vader approaching.
Luke battles Vader and strikes off his head, but the face he sees within
Vader’s destroyed mask is his own. Later, when Luke is practicing
levitating stones, he is distracted by the sound of his ship sinking
further into the swamp where he crashed. Yoda encourages Luke to
levitate the ship out of the water, but Luke is convinced such a
feat is impossible. Luke makes the attempt, but he doubts himself and
therefore fails. Luke is frustrated and angry but quickly awed by the
ease with which Yoda then draws the ship out of the water.

Han and Leia arrive at Cloud City on Bespin, where they
are greeted by Lando, who pretends at first to be angry with Han.
Han marvels at the way Lando, once a gambler and rogue, has become
a responsible businessman. Leia still does not trust him, sensing
something odd about the situation. C-3PO wanders off on his own
and disappears, only to be found later, in pieces, by Chewbacca.
Before Chewbacca can reassemble C-3PO and find out what happened, Han,
Leia, and he are taken to a banquet by Lando. Much to their horror,
Lando has betrayed them and Darth Vader is awaiting them in the
dining room. The three are taken captive and Han and Chewbacca are
tortured, though seemingly without purpose. Back on Dagobah, Luke
has another vision, this time of his friends suffering. Yoda tells
Luke that what he has seen is may in fact occur, but he warns Luke
not to act rashly. Luke insists on going to rescue his friends,
though both Ben and Yoda urge him not to face Vader before his training
is complete. As Luke and R2 depart Dagobah, Yoda reminds Ben that
even if Luke fails, “there is another.”

Lando, meanwhile, has come to regret his decision, which
he made in order to preserve the independence of his settlement. Clearly,
Vader has no intention of honoring his side of the bargain and plans
to do just as he pleases. Vader’s goal is to lure Luke to him so
that he can be captured and brought before the Emperor, but first he
needs to test one last part of his plan. Vader orders that Han be placed
in “carbon freeze,” a sort of suspended animation, so that Vader
can be sure that the process he has in store for Luke is not fatal.
As Han is lowered into the freezing chamber, Leia at last admits
that she loves him, to which he replies, “I know.” Han is frozen
safely and is handed over to Boba Fett. As Luke arrives, Vader lies
in wait and Lando resolves to free the others. Luke is guided into Vader’s
presence and the two at last stand face-to-face. Lando’s men surprise
the Imperial troops and free Leia and the enraged Chewbacca, who
almost kills Lando with his bare hands. Lando convinces them that
there is still time to save Han, and they race off.

Meanwhile, Luke and Vader duel within the depths of the
mining complex. Luke is clearly overmatched by Vader, though he
fights bravely and avoids the carbon-freeze ambush. Vader is relentless, however,
and continues to push Luke, slowly increasing the intensity of his
attacks. Eventually, Luke is bloody and desperate, fighting now
simply to escape. Vader is too strong, however, and slices off Luke’s
hand. Though he is defeated, Luke angrily refuses Vader’s offer
to join him on the dark side, saying that he could never join the man
who killed his father. Luke is devastated by Vader’s next revelation:
he, Vader, is Luke’s father. Unable to deny what the Force tells
him to be true, Luke casts himself off of the bridge on which they
stand. Leia, meanwhile, has just missed Boba Fett, who has made
his escape with Han as his captive. Lando orders the city evacuated,
and he, Leia and Chewbacca head to the Millennium Falcon, joined
by R2-D2 and C-3PO. Clinging to a weather vane below the floating
city, Luke calls out mentally to Leia, who hears him and orders
Lando to fly back for him. Luke is saved but deeply shaken by what
he has learned. The hyperdrive on the Falcon is
still not operational, as Vader gave orders that it be disconnected.
R2, fortunately, is aware of the problem and reconnects it just
in time for the friends to escape the pursuing fleet. Once they
are reunited with the Rebel forces, Luke is given a cybernetic replacement
hand. Luke, Leia, and the droids watch as Lando and Chewbacca head
off in search of Han.

Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi

C-3PO and R2-D2 approach the imposing compound of Jabba
the Hutt. At the gate, C-3PO explains that they have been sent by
their master with a message for Jabba. Despite some resistance,
the droids are able to talk their way into the presence of the powerful gangster
in his throne room, where he wallows in the presence of his monstrous
alien cronies. R2 delivers the message from Luke, who now claims
to be a Jedi Knight. Luke simply asks Jabba to bargain for Han Solo’s
life and offers the droids to Jabba as a gesture of goodwill. Jabba
accepts the gift of the droids (to C-3PO’s dismay) but flatly refuses
to discuss Han, whom he uses, still in carbon freeze, as a decoration
in the throne room. C-3PO is put to work as a translator and is
soon called upon to interpret for a masked bounty hunter who arrives
with Chewbacca in tow. The bounty hunter bargains dangerously with
Jabba, earning his respect. Chewbacca is taken to Jabba’s dungeons,
while the bounty hunter joins the ongoing party.

Later that evening, as the others sleep, the mysterious
bounty hunter stealthily approaches the frozen Han. The bounty hunter unfreezes
Han, who is weakened and temporarily blinded by his hibernation.
Just as the bounty hunter reveals herself to be none other than
Leia in disguise, Jabba, who has been observing all along, reveals
himself and takes her captive. Leia becomes Jabba’s personal slave,
and Han is reunited with Chewbacca in the dungeons. Soon, Luke appears
before Jabba, calmly striding past the guards, whom he immobilizes
with a gesture. Luke attempts to use his Jedi powers to influence
Jabba, but Jabba’s mind is much too strong for such tricks. Jabba
uses a trap door to send Luke to meet his pet, the giant rancor,
but much to Jabba’s surprise, Luke manages to slay the beast. Jabba
decides to execute Han, Luke, and Chewbacca together by casting
them into the maw of the Sarlacc, a monster something like a cross
between a sand lion and a gigantic squid. Luke is unfazed, though
Han is less optimistic about their chances. As they hover above
the Sarlacc’s pit, Luke springs his trap. R2, aboard Jabba’s barge,
launches Luke’s new lightsaber to him, and Lando, who has been undercover
as one of Jabba’s guards, helps release Han and Chewbacca. Luke
uses his Jedi skills to deadly effect, sending many of Jabba’s henchmen,
including Boba Fett, into the belly of the Sarlacc. Leia makes use
of the confusion of the battle to strangle Jabba with her chains.
In the end, the friends escape after having destroyed Jabba and
freeing Han, Chewbacca, and the droids.

Meanwhile, Darth Vader pays a surprise visit to the new
Death Star, where construction is running behind schedule. Vader
informs the commander that he intends to put them back on schedule
before the Emperor himself arrives to inspect the work. Suitably
terrified, the commander redoubles his efforts. Luke journeys back
to Dagobah, where Yoda tells him that his training is almost complete. All
that remains is for Luke to face his father, Darth Vader, once more.
Luke tells Yoda that he felt some spark of goodness still within
Vader, and that it could be awakened. Luke watches as Yoda dies,
fading into oneness with the Force. Ben appears in his ghostly form,
and explains that what he told Luke was true, in the sense that,
when he became Darth Vader, the man who had been Anakin Skywalker
was killed. Ben then reveals that Luke has a sister as well, and
Luke instantly knows that he means Leia.

In the meantime, the Rebel Alliance has received word
of the location of the new Death Star, and, further, that the Emperor
himself plans to visit the site soon. The Rebel leaders hastily
put together a plan: Lando and Admiral Ackbar will lead a direct
assault on the Death Star while it is unfinished and vulnerable.
At the same time, Han will lead a commando raid on the nearby moon
of Endor to knock out the force field generator that is the Death
Star’s only protection. Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids volunteer
for the mission, as does Luke, who arrives at the last minute from
Dagobah. As the commando group makes its way to the forest moon,
Luke senses Vader’s presence nearby, just as Vader senses him. Soon,
the Emperor arrives aboard the Death Star and Vader informs him
of Luke’s presence on the moon below. The Emperor instructs Vader
to bring Luke before him, and Vader departs.

The commando group, meanwhile, soon encounters Imperial scouts,
who speed off on hoverbikes. Luke and Leia take off after them and
become separated after a chaotic running battle through the trees.
Luke returns safely, but Leia encounters Wicket, an Ewok—a creature
rather like a teddy bear—who helps her defeat the stormtrooper she
was chasing and takes her back with him to his village. Han, Luke,
Chewbacca, and the droids soon meet Ewoks of their own, when Chewbacca
springs a trap and they are all captured. The primitive Ewoks regard
C-3PO as a god and begin to prepare to cook the others as part of
a feast in his honor. Luke uses his powers, and their mistaken belief
that C-3PO is a deity, to frighten the Ewoks into releasing them.
Leia soon rejoins the group and they spend the night in the Ewok
village. As C-3PO regales the tribe with tales of the group’s adventures,
Luke tells Leia that he intends to face Vader and that if he is
killed, she, his sister, must carry on the Jedi legacy. Luke then
departs to seek out Vader. Han sees Luke and Leia deep in discussion
and grows jealous. Leia comforts him without explaining.

Luke turns himself in to the Imperial forces and is soon
with Vader. Luke tells Vader that he intends to turn him away from
the dark side of the Force, but Vader dismisses the notion, though
somewhat regretfully. Meanwhile, the Rebel fleet has assembled and moves
into hyperspace for the assault. Han’s commando team is taken by
the Ewoks to a “back door” to the shield generator, where they quickly
break in and begin to set their explosives. Luke is soon standing
before the Emperor, the master of the dark side. The Emperor explains
to Luke that the entire situation was a set-up: he has foreseen
the approach of the Rebel Fleet and laid a trap on Endor for Han’s
group. On Endor, the Emperor’s trap is sprung as Imperial stormtroopers
appear out of nowhere and overwhelm the commandos. The Ewoks, however,
see what is taking place and decide to act themselves, and they
suddenly attack the Imperial troops.

The Rebel fleet appears out of hyperspace only to find
the shield still up and a fleet of Star Destroyers awaiting them.
Lando, aboard the Millennium Falcon, convinces
Ackbar to stay and fight, trusting Han to get the shield down before
they are all destroyed. The Emperor then tells Luke his last surprise:
the Death Star, though structurally incomplete, is fully operational.
The Emperor gives the order, and the Death Star begins blasting
the Rebel fleet apart. Lando and Ackbar take their ships right among
the Star Destroyers, hoping to use them as shields against the overwhelming
power of the Death Star. Luke, meanwhile, is fighting for self-control
as the Emperor tries to goad him into acting out of anger and hatred, which
will carry him over to the dark side. Luke springs into action, reclaiming
his lightsaber. The Emperor watches with glee as father and son
begin to duel before him, knowing that the survivor will remain
his servant.

On Endor, the Ewoks fight bravely, using their primitive
spears and slings to surprisingly good effect against the heavily
armored, well-trained, and vastly technologically superior Imperial
forces. Eventually, Han is able to use the confusion the Ewoks cause
to lure the Imperial officers out of the bunker and take them captive.
They then destroy the shield generator, leaving the Death Star open
to attack. Luke masters himself and refuses to fight Vader aggressively, simply
defending himself from attack. However, Luke is forced to attack
when Vader is able to read his feelings and learns for the first time
that Luke has a twin sister. In order to save Leia, Luke attacks and
defeats Vader, as the Emperor spurs him on. Luke, however, does
not kill Vader when he has the chance. Rather, he throws away his
lightsaber and faces the Emperor, fully in control and now a true Jedi.

Lando and several fighters fly directly into the superstructure
of the Death Star and blow up the main reactor, escaping just ahead
of the resulting blast. Enraged at losing Luke, the Emperor strikes
him with purple bolts of pure dark side energy, slowly killing him
as Vader watches. At last, something in Vader snaps, and he heaves
the Emperor bodily into an abyss where he is torn apart by the Death Star
generators. Luke has a last conversation with his father, now Anakin
Skywalker again, and sees his shattered face before he dies. Luke
escapes with his father’s body just before the Death Star explodes.
The friends are reunited on Endor, where Luke and Leia’s relationship
is explained to Han. As celebrations break out across the galaxy,
on Endor, Luke sees the ghostly forms of Ben, Yoda, and now Anakin,
smiling at him.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

In the last days of the Galactic Republic, dissension
is being spread across the galaxy and in the halls of the Republic
Senate by the actions of the Trade Federation, a scheming cartel
that has blockaded the planet of Naboo in the hopes of coercing
the inhabitants into signing an exploitative treaty. Jedi Knights,
defenders of peace and justice in the galaxy, are sent to negotiate
an end to the conflict before it escalates any further. However,
almost as soon as the Jedi ambassadors, Master Qui-Gon Jin and his
“Padawan,” or apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, have boarded the Trade
Federation’s command vessel, they are attacked by the droid (robot)
soldiers of Nute Gunray, viceroy of the Trade Federation. Gunray
is acting on the orders of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, a shadowy
figure who is manipulating events for sinister purposes of his own.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle their way out of trouble and stow away
aboard vessels that are carrying a massive droid army to the surface
of Naboo. The Jedi Knights hope to find Queen Amidala, leader of
the Naboo, who has refused the Trade Federation’s terms but still
hopes to avert a war.

On the surface of Naboo, Qui-Gon saves Jar-Jar Binks,
a friendly but clumsy (and rather stupid) native of the planet from
being crushed by a droid tank. Jar-Jar is a Gungan, a member of
an amphibian race that shares the planet with the human Naboo. In gratitude,
Jar-Jar offers to take Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to the safety of the
underwater Gungan city, even though he himself has been exiled.
Despite their best efforts, the Jedi are unable to convince the mistrustful
Gungans to ally with the Naboo, though Qui-Gon uses his Jedi powers
on Boss Nass, the Gungan leader, to finagle a transport out. With
Jar-Jar as their navigator, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan take a harrowing,
monster-plagued trip through the planet’s core, surfacing outside
the palace of Queen Amidala. The palace has already been breached
by the droid army, and Qui-Gon acts quickly to free the queen before
she can be imprisoned or forced to sign the treaty. The queen makes
her escape from the planet along with the Jedi, but her ship is
damaged when they pass through the Federation blockade, only escaping
thanks to the efforts of R2-D2, a valiant astromech droid (maintenance
robot).

The queen’s ship makes an emergency landing on the planet Tatooine,
an out-of-the-way desert planet where the Trade Federation has no
presence. Qui-Gon, R2, and Padme, one of Amidala’s handmaids, go
into the nearby town to search for replacement parts for the damaged
ship. In the shop of Watto, a winged alien motivated purely by greed,
they meet a young boy named Anakin Skywalker, who has a remarkable
facility with machines, having built his own protocol droid, the
unfinished C-3PO. Watto has the parts Qui-Gon needs but refuses
to accept Republic credits as payment. When young Anakin acts bravely
to save Jar-Jar from an alien hoodlum named Sebulba, Qui-Gon notices
that the boy seems to have an extraordinary connection to the Force—the
energy field, created by life itself, that gives the Jedi their
power. Determined to investigate the boy, Qui-Gon visits his home
and meets his mother, who, like her son, is a slave of Watto’s.
Padme accompanies Qui-Gon and quickly befriends the intense little
boy. Qui-Gon learns from Anakin’s mother that Anakin has no father,
apparently having been conceived in some miraculous manner. Qui-Gon
is now convinced, thanks to Anakin’s miraculous conception and to
the extremely high midichlorion count in Anakin’s blood (midichlorions
being microscopic life forms that connect organisms to the Force)
that Anakin is the “Chosen One,” a mysterious figure in Jedi prophecy, who
is destined to bring balance to the Force.

Qui-Gon schemes to win Anakin’s freedom by entering Anakin in
a Pod race, an incredibly dangerous contest involving jet-powered
speeders. When Anakin defeats the other racers, including the vicious
Sebulba, Qui-Gon wins both the parts he needs and Anakin’s freedom
from Watto. Anakin is reluctant to leave his mother behind, but
she urges Anakin to seek out his true destiny with the Jedi. As
the group prepares to leave Tatooine, they are attacked by the apprentice
of Sidious, Darth Maul, who has been dispatched to kill Queen Amidala.
Qui-Gon fends him off, and they make their escape. The queen and
her Jedi escort proceed to the planet Coruscant, which is one enormous
city and the capital of the Republic. There, she learns from her
representative, Senator Palpatine, that the Senate is deadlocked
by intrigue and corruption, and it will not act to save Naboo. Meanwhile,
Qui-Gon reports his disturbing findings to the Jedi Council: not
only have the Jedi’s ancient enemies, the Sith, resurfaced, but
Anakin, an untrained boy, seems to be the Chosen One. The Jedi Council,
led by Masters Yoda and Mace Windu, do not want to train Anakin,
but Qui-Gon vows to train the boy himself if they will not.

In the Senate, debate bogs down just as Palpatine predicts.
In a last-ditch effort to spur the Senate to action, Amidala calls
for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Velorum, the ineffectual
leader of the Senate. As a result, Palpatine himself is now well
positioned to take the Chancellor’s position. Despite this victory,
Amidala fears that it is too late for a political solution to the
crisis on her homeworld and immediately returns to face whatever
happens at the side of her people. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin
accompany Amidala to the encampment of the Gungans, whom she hopes
to recruit to her cause. At the ensuing meeting, Padme reveals that
she is, in fact, none other than the queen herself, having employed
a series of look-alike decoys for security and to allow herself
greater freedom. Padme begs the Gungans for help, assuring them
that the Naboo do not look upon them as inferiors, as the Gungans
have always believed. The plan that Padme proposes involves the
Gungan army drawing the Federation droids into a battle outside
the city, allowing Padme’s smaller group to sneak into the palace
and capture the viceroy. Not only does Boss Nass agree to help out,
he also promotes Jar-Jar to general in recognition of his help in
bringing the two races together.

After a massive battle, the Gungans are at last forced
to surrender, and all seems lost. However, in the meantime, Padme’s
soldiers attack the palace and send up a fleet of fighters to destroy
the main ship, which is remotely controlling the droids. Padme is
able to capture the viceroy, and little Anakin takes part in the
battle when the fighter ship he hides in takes off under autopilot.
Anakin takes control with R2’s help and manages, with a combination
of luck and natural ability, to destroy the ship controlling the
droids. All the while, a smaller but no less intense battle is raging
elsewhere in the palace, as the fearsome Darth Maul reappears and
takes on Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan together. Obi-wan is forced to watch
as Maul cuts down his master, Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan is finally able
to vanquish Darth Maul after a furious lightsaber duel. With the
control ship destroyed, the droid army shuts down, and the Trade
Federation is forced to surrender. Naboo is free and united, Obi-Wan
is made a Jedi Knight, and Anakin is his new Padawan, though the Republic
remains under a mysterious, growing shadow.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

A separatist group of star systems has broken off from
the Republic, led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi. Padme Amidala,
now the Republic Senator from Naboo, returns to Coruscant to debate
the creation of an Army of the Republic to meet this new challenge. When
Padme’s ship lands on Coruscant, however, it is blown up in an assassination
attempt. Padme survives, thanks to the Naboo custom of using decoys
and doubles. However, Chancellor Palpatine insists that Padme receive
an extra guard detail: Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin, now
grown from a small boy to a brash young man. Anakin is the most
gifted Jedi of his day, but he is also reckless and headstrong,
challenging Obi-Wan’s authority though looking up to him as a father
figure. Anakin has never forgotten his early friendship with the
beautiful Padme and is now completely in love with her. As they
stand guard over Padme’s bedroom, Obi-Wan advises Anakin to control
his feelings, reminding him that he has pledged his life to the
Jedi.

An assassin, taking orders from a mysterious bounty hunter, attempts
to kill Padme using poisonous centipede-like creatures. Obi-Wan
and Anakin foil the plot and trace the droid sent by the assassin
back to her hiding place. After a wild speeder chase through the
skies of Coruscant, Obi-Wan corners and captures the assassin in
a nightclub. Before Obi-Wan and Anakin have the chance to interrogate
her, however, the assassin is herself killed by the bounty hunter
who hired her, who then makes his escape. In response to this new
development, the Jedi Council asks Obi-Wan to investigate the assassination
attempts, while Anakin is assigned to escort Padme back home and
to guard her once she is there. In addition to these political matters,
the Jedi are concerned that as the dark side waxes in power, their
own influence over the Force seems to be waning. While Anakin and
Padme travel incognito, they continue to grow close, with Anakin
explaining the way of the Jedi to Padme and having more and more
trouble hiding his affection for her.

Obi-Wan learns through his sources that the poison dart
used by the bounty hunter comes from a distant planet, outside the
Republic, called Kamino. Obi-Wan discovers that Kamino has somehow, and
for some unknown reason, been erased from the charts in the Jedi
archives, as if to keep the system hidden. At Yoda’s urging, Obi-Wan
travels to Kamino, where he discovers that the master cloners of
that world have been busy creating a massive clone army at the request
of the Republic and the Jedi, or so they say. When Obi-Wan asks
the leaders on the Jedi Council about this army, however, they are
as surprised to learn of its existence as he. Back on Naboo, Anakin’s
crush on Padme blossoms into a full-fledged love affair, despite
Padme’s initial reluctance. Padme and Anakin’s idyllic time together
is disturbed, however, both by the knowledge that theirs is a forbidden
love and by a vision Anakin has of his mother’s suffering on Tatooine.
Padme and Anakin journey together to Tatooine so that Anakin can
investigate his vision.

On Kamino, Obi-Wan inspects the clone army and learns
that the model for the clones is none other than Jango Fett, the
bounty hunter he has been pursuing all along. Obi-Wan questions
Jango and his clone son Boba, but with little result. Jango then
tries to sneak off the planet, but Obi-Wan catches him and, after
a short but fierce clash, tracks him through space to the planet
Geonosis, where Dooku’s Separatist movement is based. There, Obi-Wan
finds yet another giant army under construction, this one composed
of droids. Obi-Wan sends a message reporting his findings to Anakin, telling
him to relay it to the Jedi Council, and then Obi-Wan is captured.
On Tatooine, Anakin and Padme learn that Anakin’s mother, Shmi,
has been sold by Watto to a man named Cliegg Lars, who later fell
in love with and married her. Anakin now has a stepbrother, Owen,
and meets his old droid C-3PO as well, but he is more concerned
with finding Shmi, who has been kidnapped by the Sandpeople. Anakin
tracks down the Sandpeople and finds his mother, but it is too late,
and she dies in his arms. Enraged, Anakin slaughters the Sandpeople,
including the women and children, as he later confesses to Padme.
Padme is disturbed by this confession and by Anakin’s desire for
power great enough to stop death itself, though she tries to remind
him that there is good in him as well.

In response to Obi-Wan’s message, Padme and Anakin journey
to Geonosis to rescue him, taking C-3PO along with them. Count Dooku
attempts to win Obi-Wan to his side, telling him that the Sith have
somehow gained control of the Senate and are manipulating events,
but Obi-Wan refuses. On Coruscant, Jar-Jar Binks, acting in Padme’s
place and under the influence of Chancellor Palpatine, calls a vote
to give the chancellor emergency powers. Thanks to this vote, Palpatine
now has unprecedented sway over the Republic and vows to bring an
end to the Separatist movement. After a dangerous battle in the
Geonosian robot factory, Padme and Anakin are captured and sentenced
to execution, along with Obi-Wan, in a huge arena. Obi-Wan, Anakin,
and Padme battle the giant creatures sent out to kill them, though
with little hope. The sudden arrival of Mace Windu and a strike
team of Jedi Knights alters the situation. The Jedi free the captives,
and Mace Windu himself kills Jango Fett, but soon even the skills
of the Jedi begin to be overwhelmed by the unending waves of droid
soldiers Count Dooku commands.

At the last second, rescue arrives in the form of the
clone army, which has been commandeered by Yoda. Yoda evacuates
the surviving Jedi and leads the clone army in an all-out assault
on the Separatist base. The Jedi and their new army defeat the Separatists, though
the Separatist leadership mostly escapes. Anakin and Obi-Wan follow
the fleeing Dooku to his hangar, where they finally confront him.
Anakin foolishly attacks Dooku on his own, and Dooku is able to
take on each in turn, defeating first Obi-Wan and then Anakin, severing
Anakin’s arm in the process. Yoda appears on the scene once more,
however, and forces Dooku to flee after a spectacular lightsaber
duel. Dooku returns to Coruscant, where he is greeted as Darth Tyranus
by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who has indeed engineered this chain
of events. Yoda reminds his followers that despite the triumph on
the battlefield, there is no victory, since the Clone Wars have
now begun. Padme and Anakin, fitted with a cybernetic arm, are secretly
wed. They look forward to an uncertain future.